Extension may allow renewals through 2016

The Obama Administration announced on Wednesday
that it would allow an additional two years of extensions for some health
insurance policies that don’t meet the requirements of Obamacare. Added to the
previously-announced single year extension, the new extension would allow
insurers to renew existing individual and small group policies up through
October 1, 2016. The announcement was contained in a major package of
regulations that sets the rules for 2015.

Many in the
media see politics behind the extensions. Prior to the new announcement,
insurers would have begun mailing cancellation notices in the months leading up
to this November’s mid-term elections. Given the public outcry that greeted the
first round of cancellations last year, that could have been a serious negative
for Democrats running in areas where the Affordable Care Act is already
unpopular.

What It Means:

The announcement may
have drawn a lot of attention in the media, but its impact will be limited.
Administration officials said that there are currently about 1.5 million people
with individual or small group plans who would be eligible to take advantage of
the extension. At least 4.7 million people have already had their health plans cancelled. In
addition, the decision to offer extensions is optional for each state and for
each health insurance plan, further
reducing those who are impacted. Less than half of states allowed the original one-year
extension.